Process for making beads of glass or similar material



PI my Z1944.

P. SYNEK PROCESS FOR MAKING BEADS OF GLASS OR SIMILARI LMAIERIAL 3 Sheets-Shee t 1 Original Filed Sept. 12, 1940 ATTORNEY mvsmoa P ns? SUV/FA I,

May 2, 1944. P. SYNEK 2,34&@315

PROCESSFOR MAKING BEADS OF emss OR SIMILAR MATERIAL Original Filed Sept. 12; 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Q I 27 @1610. Z

INVEJTZQZ /17 P575? 5V/VEA ATTORNEY P; SYNEK May v2, 1944.

PROCESS FOR MAKING BEADS OF GLASS OR SIMILAR MATERIAL Origihal Filed Sept. 12, 1940 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR 5mm W ATTORNEY Patented May 2, 1944 PROCESS FOR MAKING BEADS OF GLASS B SIMILAR MATERIAL Peter Synek, Jackson Heights, N. Y.

Original application September 12, 1940, Serial No. 358,478. Divided and this application June 3, 1941, Serial No. 3964 13 2 Claims. (CI. 49-84) This invention relates generally to the making of beads. More particularly my invention is directed to an improved method for making glass beads, or beads 01' other similar plastic materials.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide a novel and highly improved method for manufacturing glass or similar beads which shall comprise simple steps and which at the 'same time shall be characterized by its efflciency and adaptability for commercial use.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a novel method for making beads of the character described which shall at the same time be automatic and continuous.

Other objects of my invention will become apparent in the following detailed description thereof.

Certain features shown and described but not claimed in this application, are shown, described and claimed in my copending application, Serial No. 356,478 filed September 12, 1940, for Apparatus for making beads, of which the present application is a division.

In the accompanying drawings, in which is shown one or the various possible embodiments of my invention,

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of an apparatus for making glass beads or beads of similar materials, constructed in accordance with my invention, certain parts being in section an other parts broken away.

Fig. 2 is a stop plan view thereof Fi 3 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken substan- .tially on theline 4-4 ofFlg.2;

Fig. 4a is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken substantially on the line lit-4a of 4;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged part sectional view taken substantially on the line 5-5 of Fig. i;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged elevational view, partly sectional, of a portion of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 7 is an elevational view of a plurality of beads made in accordance-with my invention; and

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 7, but with the beads shown in section and illustrating a step in my process of'making beads.

My improved bead making process contemplates the use of a continuous wire oi suitable material and size and comprises essentially the following steps.

The wire is rotated axially, and at intermittent rection. Between the times that the said wire is anally moved and while it is rotating, a portion of a glass rod member ora member of similar material which has been heated to a semimolten or plastic state, is brought into intimate contact with the rotating wire. This causes the plastic glass material to adhere to the wire to be drawn oil the rod and convoluted into a bead.

When a sufllcient'amount of such plastic material has been thus drawn from the rod, the said rod is moved away from the wire to break the connection therebetween and-a bead is thus formed on the wire. The wire is then moved axially so as to be in position for the making of another bead. Spaced from the first bead any desired distance the plastic portion 01' the glass rod is again brought in contact with the wire at the newly selected position to form a second bead and so on until any desired number of beads are formed. The wire with the beads thereon formed as above described, will then appear as in Fig. 7 of the drawings. After the beads have cooled they may be removed from the wire in any suitable manner. One method which I have found satisfactory is to stretch the wire longitudinally. This reduces the diameter oi the wire, thus breaking its hold on the glass bead and permits sliding I movement of the beads on the wire to remove the same therefrom from the ends of the wire.

Referring now in detail. to the drawings I have therein illustrated a novel bead making apparatus constructed and arranged in accordance with my invention and adapted for use in the manufacture of beads from glass or other suitable similar material. and which may also be operated as to provide a continuous and automatic process.

My improved bead making apparatus comprises a hollow shaft l0, horizontally disposed and Journaled for rotation in a pair of bearing members II and II, the said bearing members ii and I2 being in turn mounted on an upright wall It of a supporting frame F. The supporting frame F comprises the wall portions l4 and it which are adapted to rest upon a main support comprising the table member I6 and the leg portions ll. In accordance with my invention I provide a second hollow shaft I 8 spaced from and in axial alignment with the hollow shaft llland mounted for rotational as well as axial movement in the following manner.

A suitable bearing member I9 is mounted-on the frame wall It, in which there is joumaled for rotation, a hollow sleeve member 20. 'The predetermined intervals is moved in an axial disaid sleeve'member 20 is provided with a pair 0! l8a thereof respectively a wire tation of 30 may be ment of the wire W there is to be made.

outwardly extending flanges a and 20b at opposite ends thereof which prevent axial movement thereof inthe bearing l9, while permit The hollow shafts l0 and i8 are adapted to the openings Ilia and have slidably received in W. The wire W is preferably of suitable thickness in accordance with the desired size of the opening in the bead ultimately to be made and of a material capable of withstanding a predetermined degree of heat.

A supply of the wire W is contained on a spool 23 rotatably mounted on a forked bracket 24,

the said bracket 24/bein8 in turn fixed to -a member 25 for rotation therev2% being in turn fixed to the rotation therewith.

multiple pulley with, the pulley hollow shaft Ill for It is thus seen from structlon that when the shaft spool 23 will rotate therewith to cause axialro the wire W within the openings Ilia of the hollow shafts l0 and I8 respeclli is rotated, the

and Ida tively.

The following means are employed for causing rotational movement of the hollow shaft l0.

Journaled in suitable bearings 26 attached to the legs i1 is a horizontally disposed main driving shaft 30 on which there is mounted for rotation therewith a multiple pulley 21 in alignment with the pulley 25 and interconnected therewith by a belt 28. The. main driving shaft driven from any suitable source of power, such as a'motor' (not shown), through a pulley 38 fixed to'the said shaft 30 and a belt 39. To facilitate the axial rotational moveis provided a cone shaped chuck member 3| mounted at one end of the hollow shaft it for movement therewith and designed to frictionally grip the wire W when the shaft I8 is axially moved in the direction of the arrow 32 to cause the tapered surface of the chuck to contactively engage the sleeve 20 as clearly shown inFig. 6 of the drawings. The following means are provided for causing the hollow shaft Hi to rotate simultaneously with the hollow shaftlfl.

A clutch member 3a is fixedly attachedt m the hollow shaft l0 for rotation therewith by any suitable means, such as, for example, the set screw 24. The said clutch member 33 is provided with a pair of grooves. 35 extending inwardly from the periphery thereof and adapted to slidably receive thereina pair of correspondingly positioned pins 36, the said pins 36 being in turn fixedly clutch member 21 rigidly attached to the hollow shaft id for rotation therewith. Y

The wire W projects beyond the chuck 3| and is passed through a wire supporting member 40 "attached to the frame F from whence it projects a predetermined distance with respect to the position of the material from which the 'bead Such material is shown in the drawings as a glass rod 4|, but which it is understood may be of any other suitable form.

In accordance with my invention as hereinthe above described conattached to a cooperatin before described, I provide the following means for supporting'the glass rod 4i, heating a portion of thesaid rod to plasticize the same and bringing the plastic portion thereof into intia mat; contact with the rotating wire W to form a The glass rod 4| is mounted in a supporting arm 42 so that the tip 4lajthereof is out of contact with and slightly spaced from the wire 10 W. The said rod 4i may be held in position by a brake device 43 having an adjusting set screw 44 to regulate the amount of force necessary to axially move the rod against the frictional force of the brake 43. A-gas burner 45 of any suitis able design is supported on a bracket 4 in such position as to throw a dame directly at the tip 4la of the rod 41 when the said rod tip 4: is in its dotted-line lowered position as shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings. The heat of the flame 20 will 'plasticize the said tip 41a to cause the same to flow toward the wire W to contactively engage the same and form a bead as hereinbefore described. When sumcient material has been drawn of! the rod to form a bead, the rod H is 25 then moved to its full-line position as shown in Fig. 4. The gas burner 45 may be supplied with gas from. any suitablesource of supply through a supply pipe 41 and may be controlled by a valve 48. It is'noted that the above described 80 flame is so directed as not to affect the wire W,

arm 42 in upright position and at the same time 7 to guide the same in its movement, there is provided a slotted aperture 56 in the lower end of the arm 42, in which the shaft 52 is received, to permit vertical reciprocal movement of the said arm 42. The said arm 42 also slidably passes throu h an openin 56 in the bracket 44.

As hereinbefore described, after a bead has been made, the wire is automatically moved axially for a predetermined distance so that it will be in proper position for the making of a second bead, after which it is again axially moved to be in position. for a third bead and so on until any desired have provided the following mechanism for effecting such intermittent axial movement of the I wire which is so synchronized with respect to the movement of the arm 42, caused by the cam ll and roller 50, that the wire W will be axially advanced while the glass rod 4| is in its upper or full-line position (see Figs. 4 and '7) after which ered into the path of the flame issuing from the a gas burner 45 and after being heated thereby to plastic statebrought into contact with the rotating wire W.-

Mounted on the .cam shaft 52 for rotation therewith are the cams l! and it. A pair of levers 60 and BI are rotatably mounted on the pivots 62 and 63 respectively supported by the .wall I! of .the'frame F. I

Mounted at one end of the lever 60 for movement therewith is a bracket 44 in which there is number of beads are manufactured. I v

the rod tip 41a will then be automatically lowv rotatably mounted a cam roller 65 adapted to cooperate with the cam 58. Rotatably mounted at one end of the lever 6| is a cam roller 66 designed to cooperate with the cam 59. The opposite end of the lever 60 from that of the roller 35 is provided with forked portion 60a, the prongs of which straddle the shaft I8. The forked portion 60a is provided with a pair of abutment.

members 61 which are designed to be adjacent to and abut the member 31 as shown in Figs. 2 and 6 of the drawings. Similarly the lever 6| is provided with a forked portion 3Ia the prongs of which straddle the. shaft I0. The forked portion 6Ia is provided with a pair of abutment members 68 which are designed to lie adjacent to and abut a collar member 69 mounted on the shaft I0.

In accordance with my invention the cams 53 and'59 are-so synchronized with respect to the levers 60 and BI that when the glass rod 4| is away from and out of contact with the wire W, the said wire will be axially moved into a position for the making of another bead in the following manner.

When the shaft 52 is rotated, the roller 66 in riding from the low to the high point of the cam 59 will cause the forked portion 6|a of the lever 6| to rotate in a counter-clockwise direction (as viewed in Fig. 6) to slidably move the collar 69 on the shaft I0. Slidably mounted in the collar 69 is a plunger pin 10 resiliently held in frictional engagement with the wire W by a spring 1|. A set screw 12 is provided to adjust the tension or pressure of the plunger 10 on the wire W, suchtension being suflicient to frictionally grip the same so as to move the wire axially and to cause it-to unroll from the spool 23, upon the above described movement of the collar 69, actuated by the cam 59. A slot 13 is provided in the shaft I0 to permit free movement of the pin 10.

' If desired the bottom end of the plunger pin 10 may be slightly cammed as shown to facilitate thegripping action in one direction.

My apparatus is so designed that at the same time that the lever BI is about to start to advance the wire W, as Just described, the forked portion 60a of the lever 30 is also caused to be rotated in a counter-clockwise direction by means of the cam .53 and roller 65, to permit the springs 15, surrounding the pins 36 to urge the shaft I8 to slidably move in an axial direction opposite to that shown by the arrow 32. This will cause the chuck 3| to be relieved of its compression force to thereby permit free sliding movement of the wire W therethrough. Upon continued rotation' of the shaft 52 the roller 66 again will reach the I low area on the cam 59 and the collar 69 will be restored to its original position shown in Fig. 6,

by means of a spring 11 surrounding the shaft I0 and interposed between the bearing I2 and the sliding collar 89.

At the same time the roller will have reached the high point on the cam 53 to cause the clutch member 31 and shaft I8 to move in the direction of the arrow 32 and against the action of the springs 15, and the chuck 3| will again. have gripped the wire W for rotation therewith.

The following means are provided for causing the synchronous rotational movement of the cam shaft 52 from the main driving shaft 30.

Journaled in the supports I4 and I5 is an auxiliary shaft 30 which is driven from the main driving shaft 30 by means of a pulley 8| mounted on the shaft 80, and a pulley 82 on the shaft 30, 16

the said pulleys being interconnected'by a belt 83. Mounted on the shaft 30 for rotation therewith is a worm gear 34 in mesh with a similar gear 85 mounted on a shaft 36.

Mounted on the shaft 36 for simultaneous rotation with the gear 35 is a second gear 31 in mesh with a gear 38 mounted on the shaft 39. The gear 33 is also in mesh with a gear mounted on the shaft 9|. The shafts 33, 89 and 9| are supported by the frame F. Fixed to the said shaft 9| for simultaneous rotation with the gear 90 is a second worm gear 92 in mesh with a corresponding worm gear 33 mounted on the cam shaft 52 for rotation therewith.

It is thus seen from the above described construction that when the maindriving shaft 30 is rotated, the auxiliary shaft 80 will be rotated through the pulleys 3| and 82 and the belt 33, the cam shaft 52 will berotated through the chain of gearing 34, 35, 31, 83, 30, 92 and 33. At

the same time the shaft I0 will be rotated through the pulleys 2s and 21 and the belt 20, while the shaft I3 may be simultaneously rotated with the shaft I0 by ,means of the cooperating clutch members 33' and 31 as hereinbefore described.

It is noted from the above description, as read in connection with the drawings, that the amount of advance movement of the wire W, or in other words, the spacing between the beads B on the wire W is governed by the amount of oscillation of the fork portion Iiln of the lever 6|. Instead of mounting the pivot shaft 63 directly on the frame F, I mount the same for lateral sliding movement in a bracket 95, said bracket 95 being slidably mounted in the opening 93 in the frame F; adjustment of the bracket being effected by screw member 93 passing through an opening 91 in the frame F. The member 96 is provided with an enlarged knurled head 99 and abuts the wall of the opening 98 at the free end of threaded shank 93a. It isthus seen that when the. head 99 is turned the pivot 63 will be novedlaterally by means of the threaded shank 9 a.

In accordance with my invention I also provide means whereby the glass rod; 4|. may be autpmatically fed a predetermined distance in a direction toward the wire W each time the said rod reciprocates to compensate for the amount that the rod has been shortened due to drawing off of the glass material from the rod 4| to make a bead.

As shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings, I provide a rigid arm member I00 having a suitable frictional clutch member |0I engaging the rod 4|. The arm I00 is provided with an angularly bent portion slidably passing through an opening I02 in the support 46 and provided with a collar I03 at thelower end thereof. A spring I04 surrounding the arm I00 is interposed between the support 46 and a collar I05 fixed to the arm I00 for movement therewith.

As shown in Fig. 4a the clutch member IOI com-prises a forked portion comprising the prongs |0Ia and IOIb which are carried by the arm I00 and straddling the rod 4| and a frame I06 having openings I06a and I06a' through which the rod 4| is adapted to slidably pass. The frame I06 is supported on the prongs |0|a and III") by a, pair of link members I01 and I01. The said link members are rotatably mounted on the pivots I08 and I08 fixed to the frame I06. The outer ends of the links I01, I01 freely pass through openings I09 and I09a in the prongs Mia and Hill; respectively. Surrounding the glass rod 4| and carried by the links I01, I01 is a brake member II2 of suitable braking material for frictionally holding the glass rod 4| when pressure is applied thereon by the links I01, IN. The openings I09 and Ia are so designed with respect to the said links I01, I01 that the brake member II2 may slip slightly only in an upward direction and when the said brake member II! is moved in a downward direction, the rod 4| will move with it.

It is thus seen that each time the rod M is moved downwardly from its full-line position to its dotted-line position in Fig. 4 an abutment "4 on the arm 4| is 50 positioned that it will strike the collar I03 to cause the arm I00 to move downwardly with it to cause the clutch 43 .to slip and permit the rod II to move downwardly for a predetermined slight distance, so that when the rod H is in its lowered position, it will be suflicient ly near to the flame and wire W to become I plasticized to form a bead.

, Upon upwardmovement of the arm 42 to restore the rod 4| to its uppermost, or full-line position the abutment member H4 will move away from the collar I03 and the arm I00 will be restored to its original position by the action of the spring I04, the brake member IIZ permitting the upward movement of the arm I00 with respect to the glass rod H for reasons above described.

A collar H5 fixed to arm I00 and normally abutting the lower surface of the bracket 40 limits the upward restoring movement of the arm I00.

A set screw H6 may, be employed for attaching the collar I03 to the arm 400 so that the said collar I03 may be adjustabiy positioned with respect to the abutment member H4.

The beads B, after being formed as above described may be passed through acooling cylinder IIO suitably slidably supported on a rod III fixed to the frame F, and after emerging therefrom may slidably rest upon a suitable to.- ble surface I20 after which the wire may be cut at any desired lengths.

It will thus be seen that there is provided an apparatus and-a method for making beads in which the several objects of this invention are achieved, and which is well adapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As various possible embodiments might be made of the above invention, and as various changes might be made in the embodiments above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be'interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. c

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a continuous process of the character described for making heads, the steps comprising rotating a length of wire axially, exerting a pushing force at one end of said rotating wire to push the same forwardly in an axial direction at predetermined intervals while the said wire continues to rotate, heating thermoplastic material to a plastic condition and bringing the plastic end into contact with-a portion oi said rotating wire to draw oil a suificient quantity of material to form a bead, said last named step being synchronized to occur in the intervals between the forward movements of said wire, to form a plurality of beadsspaced along the'said length of wire. a

2. In a continuous process of the character described for making beads, the steps comprising rotating a length of wire axially, exerting a Pushing force at one end of said rotating wire to push the same forwardly in-an axial direction at predetermined intervals .while. the said wire continues to rotate, heating thermoplastic material to a plastic condition. andf bringing the plastic into contact with a portion of said rotating wire to draw oi! a suflicient' quantity of material to form a bead, said last named step being synchronized to occur in the intervals between the wire and stretching said wire axially to break the g'rip oi the beads thereon so that the beads may be slidably removed from said wire.

PETER SYNEK. 

